Comeback

James Button fell in love with the Geelong Football Club as a boy. It was a family affair. But as the years wore on and the defeats mounted, one nagging question became louder and louder: would his team ever win a premiership again?

Comeback tells the Geelong story—how a town unloved by the big city up the road turned to football to show it was as good as anyone.

It paints the characters—two Gary Abletts, 'Polly' Farmer, Bob Davis, 'Bomber' Thompson, Matthew Scarlett, Joel Selwood and many others—who helped to make Geelong a byword for excitement, and it explains how a bunch of talented but flashy individuals ended years of despair by finding the magic ingredient that makes a great team. More than a book about sport, Comeback shows how the history of a town and the spirit of a place can be funnelled through the fortunes of a football club.

James Button was an Age journalist and speechwriter to former prime minister, Kevin Rudd. His 2012 book Speechless: A Year in My Father's Business, was shortlisted for the National Book Industry Book of the Year, the National Biography Award, the Walkley Award and the Melbourne Prize. James is communications manager at the Grattan Institute and spends his winter weekends following the Geelong Football Club.